5 Skills To Help You Land Sales Manager Jobs

Are you an extrovert who loves to stay busy and travel for work? Are you hungry to build a team around you and help all of them to next-level their sales game?

Then sales management could be the career for you. Keep reading to find out five skills you’ll need to land sales manager jobs.

1. Coaching

Unlike sales manager jobs, entry-level positions don’t require much of anything in the way of experience. It’s up to you to get your newest team members on par with the seasoned veterans of the group.

The good news is if you’ve done a great job of hiring the right people, they’ll crave your feedback and put it to good use immediately. It’s the new hires who are always the hungriest and ready to learn.

The bad news is that sales is a tough, constantly evolving career with a steep learning curve. Even the best new guys are going to be at it for a while before you can see the ROI on your investment.

2. Leadership

It’s so easy to say. Leadership skills…

But what makes a great leader? How do you know you have what it takes?

Honesty

Above all other things, you need to be honest with your clients and your team.

Communication and Delegation

It’s not enough to share your vision. You need to inspire and lead by example.

Know what to keep on your plate and what to send to someone else. Leaders in sales manager jobs will use their team’s strengths for the greater good and at the same time encourage them to work on their weaknesses.

Confidence and Commitment

Your team needs to believe in you and your vision. You should be confident in your path and your ability to walk the rest of your team down this road.

Keep in mind, this means you’re in front. You’re the first line of defense when your team is about to be thrown under the bus.

Trust your gut.

Stay Positive

Smile and smile often. When the going gets tough, take a deep breath and get back to it. You have a team of people who believe in you and your goals and you have clients or customers doing the same.

It’s a lot to take on but with a positive attitude, you’ll help yourself and everyone around you to relax.

3. Empathy

This is the true secret to great leadership. When you lift your team to help them reach their goals, do you care if you fall? When it comes to your sales and clients, do you insist on being first at the table or do you let your team members snag the best clients?

Empathy is the greatest gift we have as human beings. It’s also the most under-utilized trait in the business world.

The best leaders don’t push employees to do the best they can. The push them to achieve what they didn’t think was possible.

The Other Side

Empathy allows you put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Don’t just know what they want. Know why they want it.

When looking at sales manager jobs, ask yourself this: “Do I understand why the customer wants this product? Can I guide them through the process by connecting with them?”

Can you easily pick up on a prospect’s skepticism of your product or service? How well can you make them feel at ease and convince them it’s the right decision?

Today, there are tools to make marketing to your clients easier than ever before. Learn more about them to better your customer relationship skills and increase sales.

As a one-person army, you will undoubtedly fail. You need the clients and your team and you need to be able to connect with both.

4. Vision

What do you see? Not directly in front of you. What do you see when you think about your career, your team, and the product or service you’re selling?

Where do you see the market going in the next year? How about the next ten?

Having great vision as a sales manager means being able to make predictions on changes in the market and adjusting your sales strategies.

This kind of skill allows you to continue to meet quotas and even increase sales. If you see a void somewhere, you can be proactive and fill it before anyone else.

Vision works in tandem with communication, one of our top leadership skills. When it comes to sales manager jobs, there is no participation trophy.

You can do what it takes to be a champion or you can focus on making sure everyone has fun and gets to play.

Talk about your vision with your team. Tell them why it’s your vision and talk to them about precise measures everyone will be using to get there.

5. Hiring

Picking up the wrong person for an entry level sales job will not just weigh you down, it will slow your numbers and affect the morale of the rest of the unit. Being effective at picking out the right person for your team is a key skill for sales manager jobs.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Granted, some potentially great salespeople could just need some help coming out of their shell. This is where being a great leader will set you and your team apart from the rest.

This is another situation where you should trust your gut and personally deal with the consequences if you make a bad decision. Not only will you have to terminate someone, but you’ll have to pick up the slack.

Sales Manager Jobs – The Takeaway

You’ve probably noticed many of these skills work well others on the list. Sales manager jobs require you to have a set of skills, not just be a master of one. You’ll have to roll with the punches, think fast, and act even faster.

In the fast-paced world of sales and marketing, you’ll be under pressure like you’ve never experienced before.

It takes a special kind of leader to be successful. Are you that person?

There is only one way to find out. Make the decision to do it and then hit the ground running.

If you enjoyed today’s post on how to succeed in the workplace, you may also like this one on five healthcare jobs to jumpstart your career!